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Thursday, February 5, 2009

Goals Rethought

As we move along into February, lots of thoughts about my sewing goals are entering my head. I have had a definite re adjustment of those goals and may even have forgotten one or two of the originals. So to pin myself down here is my new and standing list:

Get familiar with and successful at using BWOF patterns. Status: I just got my magazine and have the pattern for the sewing coarse jacket traced and ready to cut. I really would like to thank Summerset for her imput here. If you haven't checked out her blog posts on using the European magazine patterns, you need to.

Make a vintage pattern, or at least a re issue of a vintage pattern. Status: I have the pattern picked out and purchased. It is Vogue 1083, circa 1953. My plan is for a black cashmere coat. Yummy!

Get better at picture smocking. This is a real challenge. I have yet to reach the level of skill with this that I would like to have. But I will keep trying. Status: I have a plate I am smocking right now and hope to have done for Easter. I will keep pecking at it.

Steal my grandaughter away from NH as much as possible and get her sewing. She is very anxious to learn and has talked to me about it. She is 5 and has excellent fine motor skills. Status: She will be coming up next week. Yippee!

Make more pants, lots of pants! Status: Not good as I need to shop for more bottomweights. That will come on my next NH trip. First purchase: hopefully some heavy black linen.

Develop a TNT pattern for a tee shirt, a pair of pants, and a blouse. Status: I think I am there with my latest pants and blouse but that tee keeps alluding me. I just haven't found the right pattern for a great TNT yet. I did read Marcy Tilton's tee shirt treatise in Threads for about the fifth time this past week. That's a fabulous article with every possible detail in it.

So that is my new plan. I am glad I have this down in writing to keep me on target. I think I will even bookmark this page. Better yet-I will print it off and up it will go on to the bulletin board in my sewing room.

THROWBACK THURSDAY: This is my absolute first attempt at any sort of heirloom sewing. It is about 12 years old. I was inspired by a Nancy Zieman program and just couldn't get enough techniques into one garment. It leaves a lot to be desired. For some reason it smashed my boobs so I would wear as a jacket, open, with a cami underneath. There are pintucks, crossed tucks, sharks teeth (one of my favorite techniques) and some bumbling attempts at seaming. It held up for quite a while but now has seen better days. It reminds that I have come a long way since this one. Maybe we all need to revisit our oldies but goodies to remind ourselves just how much we have learned and how much more skilled we have become, no matter what our sewing level. Reviews are always good. ...................Bunny

4 comments:

Bunny, My just-turned seven year old DGD is coming to spend the weekend with me. And she has requested that we just "sew, sew, sew". She has mastered the running stitch and the backstitch and is anxious to try chain stitching. It is breathtaking to see her little intent head bent over a hoop! The sewing machine, however, has been a challenge for her. Good luck with your little one. We have to pass this passion on!Cissie

I have to absolutely agree with you on the idea of revisiting old projects to remind ourselves of growth. Just the other day I was looking at the first dress I made and the trainwreck that it is inside. Let me just say, I'm so glad I eventually figured out how to make the inside of a garment look just as nice as the outside.

I think it would be absolutely horrifying to see the things I made in my teens and twenties. I had lower standards then. I did make a white heirloom blouse experimenting with teeny pintucks and all sorts of embroidery--I wish I still had that.

About Me

I am a passionate sewist who was taught heirloom hand sewing by Spanish nuns as a child. But my love of all things fiber has taken many turns since then. I have seriously sewn my entire life and can't imagine not doing so. I have tried other creative endeavors but now realize that designing and sewing clothing for myself and others is what I am meant to do. I pray this trip through my blog is one you will savor and return to. I've been proudly blogging since April of 2007.